Hashimotos - Diet Advice

[HarrietJW]

I have been trying to help my thyroid through diet for a long time and am seeing no change, in fact for the past 4 months I have eliminated gluten, dairy and meat and my antibodies have increased and my T4/T3 lowered. I feel like nothing is working.

Could it be that diet is unrelated to my results or should I push on reducing these anti-inflammatory elements from my diet?

Any help apprieciated!

[Lalatoot]

Maybe you are being too restrictive. We need calories for conversion and sometimes we crave what our body is needing.

[greygoose]

Diet is related... to a certain extent. But, it's not the be-all-and-end-all of thyroid care. You cannot replace optimal thyroid hormone replacement with a sandwich, even if it is gluten-free.

Sounds like you've cut a lot of elements out of your diet and are at double the risk of nutritional deficiencies, now. Double because you will already have low stomach acid which makes digestion and absorption of nutrients difficult.

I know a lot of people disagree with me on this point, but as far as I'm concerned, it isn't about the antibodies. Even if you managed to eliminate them completely, you would still have Hashi's, and the disease would still persue it's course. 20% of Hashi's people never even have over-range antibodies, but they still have damage to their thyroid. And, antibodies fluctuate all the time, so not even worth retesting once you know you have it.

What you need is to be on adequate thyroid hormone replacement - levo, T3, levo+T3, NDT - whatever suits you. BUT - and this is the killer - enough of it to make you well. And, doctors are so terrified of hormones that they systematically under-medicate their patients.

The first step on the path to wellness is to get proper testing - another thing doctors don't do!

You need:

TSH

FT4

FT3

(don't bother with antibodies unless you can't avoid it, you know you have Hashi's, and it isn't going away)

vit D

vit B12

folate

ferritin

Then, you post the results and ranges on here, and let us have a look. Then, we can take it from there.

[Charlie-Farley]

Hi HarrietJW

I too have changed my diet since being diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I cut dairy for a while but back on it now and I have gone strictly gluten-free.

The gluten-free thing has definitely helped me.

I’m also eating more meat I’m using cheese and eggs and lots of fresh vegetables and fruit but eating less carbs overall, but they still are an essential part of my diet.

Nutritionally I need to focus on meat, dairy fruit and vegetables. I am also attending to some vitamin deficiencies by using supplements recommended by Slow Dragon.

I have to say the strategy feels like it’s working and with the increases in levothyroxine I am hopeful that I will continue to improve. I think there is a fear of eating fat but as long as you’re sensible it is an essential part of our food.

There is quite a lot of evidence that high carb diets are actually the diets that lay down the unhealthy fat not dietary fat.

There is a book my hubby is reading called the Hybrid diet which I’m going to get my mits on as soon as he is finished, which covers issues around high carbs low fat.

Generally though I’m considering the nutritional benefits of foods I eat. Peanut butter has just gone back on the menu!

I’ve also noticed that wheat products and high-fat, high sugar, high carb combination equals serious heartburn for me. Heartburn being a common problem amongst us Hashi folk. I was suffering heartburn really badly which as you will see from discussions on this forum is generally caused by low stomach acid.

This means that the proton pump inhibitors like omeprazole prescribed by the GPs actually make things worse!

Through changes in diet and noting what aggravates I have completely eradicated heartburn. I haven’t had an episode for several months now.

For instance, apple crumble is the perfect storm, especially if I’ve got a dollop of vanilla ice cream on it. I just can’t touch that sort of thing now and I certainly don’t combine the three elements all at the same time. Even a gluten-free crumble does it for me! Damn shame!

All I can suggest is that you listen to your body and you feed it and make sure any vitamin deficiencies are addressed because they can give you significant symptoms as well.

It’s a holistic approach. My TPO antibodies have reduced slightly and TG antibodies by two thirds. But that’s not the issue - I just feel better- but I think lifestyle will need further attention and we hope to sell our business and dial down the pace (and thus the stress). Walking away from a soon to be little goldmine in a soon to be boom town. Hey, Some things are just more important. 😊

[HarrietJW in reply to Charlie-Farley]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! There’s just so much contradicting messaging out there it’s so hard to know which way to go. Meat? No meat? Carbs? No carbs? Etc I guess nothing is black and white and that’s the important thing also. Thanks again!

[Charlie-Farley in reply to HarrietJW]

You are welcome- keep well 😊👍